


a promise kept

by salacious



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Feels, But Doesn't Really Follow Movie Timelines, F/M, Maybe Before Captain America The Winter Soldier, TWS Vibes, romanogers - Freeform, stevenat - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27636755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salacious/pseuds/salacious
Summary: When a mission suddenly goes south, Steve is forced to make a decision. Listen to Natasha or walk away.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 10
Kudos: 98





	a promise kept

**Author's Note:**

> This is a mess, it's a mix of Resident Evil & Titanic lmao so just...know it's a wild ride. I may write a part 2...maybe...

“So,” Natasha reached up, flicking the switches of the control panel to descend and Steve turned to her with a curious look. “Any fun plans for the weekend?”

His eyes narrowed slightly, jaw clenching in slight aggravation. He knew where this conversation was headed and Natasha had to bite her bottom lip to keep from smiling at his annoyance.

“Why?” He turned to her, adjusting his leather gloves. “You inviting me anywhere?”

Her lips were turned up in a smirk as she rolled her eyes and expertly landed on the helipad of their assigned mission. “No.” When she tilted her head slightly to the side, her red hair moved over her shoulder and she tucked it back. “But I know there’s someone that’s free...”

Steve let out a deep sigh and unbuckled himself from the seat. He reached for his shield and attached it to the magnets on his back. “Nat-”

“Come on!” She slid her pistols in their gun holsters and reached for the comms link. “She’s pretty,” she begins counting out the qualities on her fingers, “young, smart. Passed the background check.”

He shakes his head, muttering something under his breath and lifted his wrist to speak into the mic. “Secure channel 7.”

Natasha gave him a look, slightly disappointed that he was ignoring what she was saying. “Channel seven secure.” She followed him out to the exit and he smacked the button a little harder than necessary. “It’s just one date.”

“That’s what you said last time,” he muttered, “and she tried pulling a gun on me.”

At the memory of Suzanne Rowley – a mousy secretary at SHIELD, who Natasha thought had been a good candidate to introduce to Steve – and how she had reacted to Steve’s chivalry, Natasha winced. “She was a little jittery.” He huffed a not-so amusing chuckle and she tried to steer the conversation back to the person that Natasha was sure would be much better. “But Janice isn’t like that!”

“Not interested, Nat.” He called over his shoulders, taking long strides to the abandoned building.

Their mission seemed relatively simple. A company in a small town in Moldova, right near the border of Ukraine, had been messing with the idea of creating a supersoldier serum. SHIELD had been keeping an eye on them, making sure that nothing successful came out of the lab, but after an incident with the company’s finances, the laboratory shut down and was left abandoned.

Fury sent them to recover any data they could find and to see if there had been anything worth launching an investigation.

Natasha didn’t mind. It should be an easy mission. The closest thing they’d get to a vacation if Fury kept assigning them back-to-back missions. This one, though, she didn’t really mind. It was the first mission she worked with him and Fury paired them up alone.

After studying the satellite images and completely learning the blueprints of the building, Fury decided that this particular mission didn’t require too much manpower. She didn’t hate working with the STRIKE team, but it felt different ever since Clint went away for a much-needed time off.

Now Clint seemed to be slipping into early retirement and Natasha was left alone. Steve spent a year doing small SHIELD missions with other agents, like a rookie did when they first joined SHIELD, and then finally Fury assigned him as her partner.

At first, it felt a little like she was babysitting him, the man had no knowledge of the…greyer side of things. He sometimes still gave her a side-eye when she did things her way, but it wasn’t judgemental. It seemed to mostly bother him when she didn’t give him a heads-up of what she was doing.

Maybe there was some improvement after all. He was no longer the grandpa-sweater wearing, soft-spoken Steve that brushed his hair to the side with much more gel than what was necessary. Now he was a grouchy, sailor-mouthed soldier that didn’t hold back when they sparred.

Natasha loved it. She loved pushing his buttons, loved watching his jaw tick in aggravation when she bothered him and loved the way his voice would drop an octave when she was nearing that line of no return.

It was precisely why she insisted on setting him up with a potential date. At first, she had started with serious candidates, genuinely trying to get him to leave his little SHIELD-assigned apartment so that he could live his life outside of following orders, but slowly him turning down those dates turned into a bit of a game between them.

Steve finally agreed to go on a date with one of the girls Natasha had chosen, but in exchange, he asked her to help him keep up with pop-culture. Unfortunately, that girl turned out to be Suzanne Rowley and after the misunderstanding, Natasha pulled back on the suggestions.

She didn’t stop, that’s not who she was, but she did try to give him a bit of time to build the courage back up to go out with someone else. That had been the first and last date he had gone on and every time she tried encouraging him to go with someone else, he’d always bring up Suzanne and they’d end up bickering over take-out food until they agreed on what movie to cross off his list.

Whenever they had free time, that’s what they did and Natasha found that she was beginning to fall into the habit a little too much, which is exactly why she resumed trying to set him up. The moment he found a good woman, he’d spend all his Friday nights with her, instead of slouched on Natasha’s leather couch, serving as her foot pillow while they watched TV.

That was much safer than stirring the emotions she felt whenever he stared at her for a little too long.

“Why not?” She held her decryption device up to the door lock and waited for the numbers to show up. “She’s a nice girl.”

Steve shrugged an arm, looking straight ahead. “Just not interested.”

The steel door opened with a slight creak, clouds of dust appearing as they pushed it and they waited for a second for the automated lights to light up.

“If you gave her a chance,” she began, but he was walking away from her with purposeful strides, “you might be-”

“Let’s finish this mission,” he sighed, a slight edge to his voice, “then, find me a date.”

His tone held no room for teasing and she wondered if maybe she had pushed a little too much. His jaw muscles were taut, he kept gritting his teeth and his shoulders were tense, showing signs of discomfort.

Usually, Natasha could read someone’s body language, but with Steve, it was…strange. She hated to use her skills on him, to manipulate him to give her the answers she so desperately wanted, but that led her to make assumptions based on minimal effort and that led her to believe stupid things.

Like the possibility of him being interested in her.

It was stupid to think it. Sure, he could be attracted to her. After all, he was a man, made of skin and bones, so it was logical to think that he may find her attractive. She was the Black Widow, that was practically one of her superpowers.

But attraction and emotions were two different things and sometimes those assumptions made her think that maybe he did like her.

“I can multitask,” she muttered.

Steve jabbed his chin in the opposite direction he was heading and said, “Let’s split up, we can cover more ground that way. Check out the left-wing and I’ll check this one out.”

Natasha nodded and made her way down the empty corridor. Though the building had been abandoned for a few weeks, everything was still in pristine condition. Papers were stacked on desks; floors were clean and trash cans emptied.

Everything seemed generic, though, all the personal items from the laboratory workers had been removed and Natasha wondered why files hadn’t been shredded or destroyed. Things mostly seemed to be cleaned out of as if people had gone away on vacation and planned on returning later to continue with their work.

Though they were attempting to recreate the supersoldier serum, their work didn’t seem to be out of the ordinary. Most of the experiments seemed to fit the criteria of a laboratory – studying cells, developing vaccines and they even seemed to be dipping their toes in conducting energy.

Nothing gave them red flags and Fury mostly sent them out there to recover information, but something in the pit of her stomach warned her to be vigilant.

So, as she slowly made her way into a lab room, she held her gun up and stayed alert.

“You know,” she stepped into the room and spoke into the comms link, “just because you’re 90 doesn’t mean you have to be grouchy like an old man.”

Steve chuckled on the other end, making his way down into a room that seemed to be where they discussed their ideas. He flipped through a few pages. “I’m not grouchy, you’re just a pain in my ass.”

Natasha reached into her utility belt to pull out a USB and plugged it into a computer. This room seemed to be where they conducted most of their experiments for the serum. “Admit it, Rogers, you love me _because_ I’m a pain in your ass.”

The words slipped past her lips before she had time to process what she said, but she refused to torture herself over the implication behind her words and waited for the screen of the computer to light up.

“You keep tellin’ yourself that, Romanoff,” was his muttered response. After a beat of silence, he added, “Stop trying to set me up and I’ll stop being a grumpy old man.”

Natasha actually let out a laugh at that. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she typed in codes to let her in past the safety firewalls put into place. “I think that going out will help you stop being so grumpy.”

While the files loaded into the USB drive, Natasha walked around the room and flipped through a few files. Most of the notes scribbled made mentions of failed serums and possible ideas on how to fix it. These files Natasha stacked on the desk and waited for the date to finish uploading.

This was when things took a turn, this is probably why her brain kept reminding her to be cautious and alert.

A bright red light began to flash in the corner of the room, followed by ear-piercing alarms as the doors to the room slammed shut. Steel panes slid out in front of the windows and the sprinklers overhead turned on.

Immediately, Natasha tried to salvage the reports, shoving them into drawers and away from the water. The water pressure from the sprinklers seemed to be stronger than usual, slightly overwhelming her as she struggled to keep things safe.

“Nat?” Steve’s voice sounded worried. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

Before she could respond though, an automated voice spoke through the intercom. First in Romanian and then in English. “Anomaly detected. Commencing stage 1 of decontamination.”

“Nat?” Steve’s worry became much clearer as he began to make his way toward her. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know!” She shouted, trying to hear herself over the sound of the water raining down on her. “I was trying to gather data and-” she stopped, swallowing as she saw the air vents overhead slam shut.

She was being completely shut-in.

“And, what?”

Natasha reached up to push back her wet hair and squinted, trying to find a way out of the sealed room. “The doors automatically closed. I’m locked in.”

“I’m coming over.”

Her heart began to speed up a little in her chest. Panic hadn’t fully settled in, but it was beginning to creep in. “Is there a fire? Do you smell smoke? Did the sprinklers go off in your end?”

“No,” Steve responded and slammed his hands against the door.

“ _Air vents have been locked to prevent virus leakage._ ”

“Stand back,” Steve shouted, “I’m going to open the door.”

“No!” Natasha shouted, realisation dawning in. “Steve, don’t!”

He frowned and pressed himself closer to the door to try and see her. The door was made from polycarbonate glass with a hint of frost over it to add a bit of privacy, but he could still see her outline. “What do you mean?”

Natasha gripped the bannister of the little stairs behind her and swallowed hard. “I think…I think I must’ve triggered something. Something that’s dangerous and can’t be let out.”

“What?” His brain seemed to be processing faster than his mouth, but he tried not to let the panic that was beginning to settle in his stomach show. “I don’t-”

“You can’t open that door, Steve.” She said it softly, sagging against the rail.

Steve tried looking into the room and around, searching for a way to let her out, completely ignoring what she said. “Natasha, this room is sealed shut. If that water keeps-” He stopped himself, looking down as the water began to pool in the room, “I need to get you out.”

Damn him for being so stubborn.

Natasha walked over to the door, shaking her head adamantly. “Didn’t you hear what this stupid building is saying?! Whatever I triggered…it’s a virus, if it gets out of this room…” she wiped the water away from her face, “we don’t know what could happen.”

That’s not what Steve heard, though. He heard that she was stuck in a room with a possible deadly virus and she was asking him to leave her alone inside.

“Natasha-”

“It’s my decision, Steve.” She snapped, her green eyes piercing through him even through the glass.

“You can’t stay in there!” He growled back, slamming his fist against the glass. “I’m not going to let you.”

She stared at him, like really _looked_ at him, as if she was trying to keep his face glued to her memory and tried to ignore the sound of the water to be able to hear Steve only. “Steve, it’s not up to you.”

He ignored her. “I can pry it open-”

“No!” She slammed her hands against the glass. “Goddamn it, Steve! We don’t know what this is! You can’t make stupid, reckless decisions because you feel-”

“I’m not going to let you die, Natasha,” he interrupted, feeling his chest squeezing with a flurry of emotions that he couldn’t focus on. “I’m not. You can’t ask me to-”

“I’m not _asking_ you,” she hissed, “I’m _telling_ you that you can’t open the damn door!”

“Nat,” he tried again, his voice cracking a bit, nearly pleading.

She shook her head and held her hand up. “No.”

“Nat…” his eyes watered as his voice caught in his throat, “please. I can’t…I _can’t_.”

Natasha crossed her arms over her chest, trying to put on a strong front for him. If she told herself that everything was okay, then she wouldn’t really think about what she was really doing. This was the right decision, the practical one.

They were Avengers for fuck’s sake. Putting their life on the line was what they did; why was he making this harder for her?!

“Please,” His voice sounded muffled against the glass and she turned away from him. “Natasha, I can’t,” he paused, “please don’t ask me to let you do this.” He pulled on the door handle, jamming it a little. “We can try calling SHIELD. There has to be a way to-”

“The vents were shut, Steve!” She snapped, “It’s probably airborne! It’s why it’s freaking decontaminating, there’s nothing we can do!”

He growled out a curse, slamming his hand against the door again and then walked away.

Once he was gone, she sagged against the desk she had been standing next to and breathed out shakily. She didn’t want to admit that she was scared, she didn’t want to admit that she didn’t want him to leave.

Natasha wasn’t the type of person to think about what type of death she wanted, she knew it was inevitable in her field, but the few times she thought that she would die, well, they were out on the field. She was always standing in the face of danger, knowing that she’d use her last breath to make sure she was doing something _good_.

And, yet…

Standing there, shivering a bit because of the non-stop rain of water, realising that she was probably going to die a slow, painful death…well, it didn’t feel as heroic and accepting as she did when she thought she’d die out fighting alongside the guys in New York, but it was for the wellbeing of others.

Her eyes watered a bit and she gritted her teeth, silently reminding herself to get a fucking grip. This was the nature of her life, she had dodged death way too many times and even though she wasn’t facing off some maniac trying to wipe out the world, her death would assure that whatever had caused the fail-safe.

She swallowed back the fear and tried to come to terms with it.

“SHIELD isn’t fucking answering,” Steve startled her out of her thoughts and she spun to look back at him. “Fuck,” he muttered, sliding his hand down his face tiredly.

“You should go.”

The moment the words came out of her mouth, she immediately regretted them. The last thing she wanted to do was die alone. She had been alone most of her life, depending just on herself and now that she had Steve…it obviously made her weak.

The Black Widow didn’t waver in the face of death, didn’t question her decisions and she most certainly didn’t tear up at the idea of dying alone.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Steve,” she licked her bottom lip, pushing back her wet hair, “my mind’s made up. I’m not leaving this room. You don’t have to stay because I’m not _leaving_.”

“Natasha,” he pressed himself against the glass, trying to see her clearer, “you can’t ask me to do that.”

“Then, I’ll order you to.”

He gritted his teeth, feeling a mixture of anger and despair taking over his senses. “I am not going to let you die here. I’m not going to.”

She opened her mouth to tell him off, but he continued on a tangent, his voice becoming more agitated and emotional as he spoke.

“I can’t do this again. I can’t lose another best friend, Nat. I barely,” his voice cracked, “I can barely cope knowing that I’m the reason Bucky died. I didn’t reach for him fast enough, I didn’t…” he swallowed hard, staring up at her with watery blue eyes, “I can’t lose you too.” He pressed his forehead against the glass. “I…” he trailed off, swearing under his breath.

“This isn’t your fault.” Her voice sounded strange even to her own ears, like she was having an out of body experience. “No one here is to blame, hear me?” She took a hesitant step forward and bit her lip when she realised that in the time he had gone and returned, the water was reaching just above her ankles. “You weren’t to blame for his death and mine will not be yours.”

“How can you say that?” He whispered, anger seeping into his voice. “How can you tell me it’s not my fault when I’m standing right in front of you, when I can open this fucking door and get you out?!”

“Because I’m telling you that it isn’t your fault!” She shouted, “Because I’m telling you to leave me here, to go back and live your damn life!”

“How?!” He cried out; the pain so evident in his eyes that it nearly broke her. “How can you ask me to go back and live my life when you won’t be there?! I…” he breathed in deeply, trying to lower his voice and calm his emotions. “I care about you, Natasha.”

Natasha swore, pushing back her hair for the millionth time and squinted up at him. “Steve-”

“I care about you,” he repeated, interrupting her as he spoke louder, “more than work partners, more than friends care about each other. I care about you more than I should. So don’t fucking ask me to leave you here, Natasha. Don’t ask me to leave you because I _can’t_.”

“Steve-”

He seemed to be in a tangent, though. Once the words began to tumble out, he couldn’t stop them and, quite frankly, he didn’t want to stop. The timing wasn’t perfect, but he had to. He had to let her know what he felt and if he didn’t do it then, he never would.

“Why do you think I always turn down those dates, Nat? I’m not…it’s not because I don’t want to go _out_ on dates, it’s because they’re not who I want to be with; they’re not you.” He said it so simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Natasha didn’t know whether she wanted to shut him up or tell him that she secretly loved when he turned those options down.

Well, she’d never admit that to him, let alone herself.

“It’s because I’m in love with you.”

Her heart stammered in her chest at his words and she widened her eyes, looking at him like he spoke in a language that she couldn’t quite understand.

Steve felt his face turn a dark red, hot and embarrassed but he didn’t regret saying it. He meant it and now that the truth was out in the open, he felt lighter. Maybe she didn’t return his feelings, but he hoped that she would at least stop trying to set him up.

“I don’t,” he frowned, looking away from her, “I don’t expect you to feel the same way, okay? I don’t, you don’t _have_ to, I just…I want you to know that I can’t do what you’re asking me to do because I _can’t_.”

Natasha didn’t say anything, _couldn’t_ say anything. She just stood there, letting the water drip down the side of her face as her arms went numb at her sides.

He loved her. He actually loved _her_.

What the hell was _wrong_ with him?!

“I’m going to keep calling.” Steve broke the silence. “I’m going to find someone.”

“Steve-”

He held his hand up, gritting his teeth as the anger from earlier resurfaced. He didn’t want to hear it anymore. “Let me do this, Natasha. Let me try to find a way out.”

She swallowed hard, swallowed back the bile of vomit that threatened to heave out of her body at his words. She was the one making the sacrifice, why the hell was he making her feel guilty?! “Okay,” she whispered, nodding.

“I’ll be right back.”

She didn’t say anything, just nodded in response and waited until he was gone to let out a shaky breath. She wrapped her arms around herself, squeezing tightly to try and bring herself back into reality. At least the bodysuit was keeping her relatively warm.

Natasha looked down at the water, sighing as it kept rising and she slowly walked over to a desk across from the door. She didn’t know if she was still in shock or if the situation was preventing her from actually processing his words, but she was surprisingly…calm.

Steve loved _her_.

He knew her flaws, knew her bloody past and still…

A warm tear trickled down her cheek and she let out a little sigh, realising that maybe she had been more surprised by his words than she originally thought.

Sure, she suspected that he might be attracted to her, but this? This was different. Being in love with someone was not the same as being attracted. So, with that being cleared up, what the hell did _she_ feel for _him_?!

She cared about him, that was a given, but could she admit to herself that what she felt was toeing the line between friends and _more_ than friends.

If she had been giving advice to anyone else, she’d ask them a logical question; can you live without them? Can you imagine yourself in a world where they don’t exist? Can you imagine them living in happiness with someone else?

If anyone had asked her, she’d laugh and flawlessly lie – she didn’t _need_ Steve, she had lived without him for a long time and had managed to get by, but now that she had him…she didn’t want to let him go.

Had the roles been reversed, she probably would have been trying every goddamned thing to make sure he’d be okay, to make sure he was brought out of this mess alive, so why couldn’t she let him do the same for her?

Why couldn’t she give him a hint of hope?

She knew the answer to that.

The moment she gave Steve hope, she’d open the door for having hope herself and as amazed as she was at certain things in the world they lived in, the situation looked pretty fucking bleak. Even if they managed to contain the virus, even if Steve found a way, she was still infected and they didn’t know what the hell could happen then.

“Tony’s coming!” Steve shouted, running back toward the door. “Tony’ll be here in a few hours. He said he can find a way out of this. Hear me?” He beamed at her, eyes bright and full of hope she wished he didn’t have. “Tony’s coming and he’ll get you out.”

Natasha couldn’t bring herself to say what she wanted to say, couldn’t tell him that she was probably going to die whether he was okay with it or not. She couldn’t do that because…well, like an idiot, she loved him too.

“Okay.”

“Promise me something, Nat.”

She looked up at him. “What?”

He breathed in deeply, struggling to choose the right words. “Promise me that you’ll let me try, that you won’t ask me to go anymore.”

“Steve,” she sighed, sounding more tired and irate than she intended.

“Promise me,” he insisted, “promise me that you won’t fight me anymore. I’m not going to stop; I’m not going to stop trying until I’m all out of options.”

She hated that he was making her want to cry. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” he nodded, sliding his hands against his pants before sitting beside the door.

For the next few moments, they sat in silence. Natasha looked down, watching as the room kept filling with water and tried her hardest to focus on anything but what they were currently dealing with. She just wanted to close her eyes and ignore all the issues that were happening and maybe it was stupid to think, but she’d rather wake up thinking that this had all been a nightmare.

That would be easier.

She’d wake up and this wouldn’t be happening. Steve wouldn’t have told her how he felt and things would be _okay_.

“The first few months after I woke up from the ice,” Steve spoke softly, “were the hardest I’ve ever lived. Every day I woke up I wished I had died in that crash. I wish it had been me that fell from the train instead of Buck. I wished…” he sighed, shrugging an arm, “I wished that things had been different.”

Natasha didn’t speak up; didn’t want to interrupt whatever he was saying and she honestly didn’t really have anything to say in response that would comfort him.

“I was so angry, so hurt. Felt like I had lost something like I didn’t belong.” He let out a soft, sardonic chuckle through his nose. “Funny thing is,” he ran his fingers through his hair, “I didn’t feel like I belonged in the 40s either. First I was a skinny, frail kid that everyone ignored. Then I was a freak science experiment that everyone wanted to befriend. When I woke up, it was the same thing all over again. Inside I was the skinny, frail Steve. Outside I was Captain America and everyone treated me like I was a ticking time bomb.”

He turned to face her with a slight frown, his mouth turning downwards. “I’m not telling you this to get pity or anything, I just…I want you to know that I felt completely lost until I met you. I know, I know,” he gave her a small smile, “it’s really cliché, but it’s the truth. Your friendship grounded me, made me feel human again. You didn’t treat me like I was going to crumble in your hands like I was too broken to function in society. You didn’t treat me just as Captain America, you saw _Steve_. You treated me like I was just another regular guy and after waking up in a different decade,” he sighed, “that meant the world to me.”

“You saved me,” he spoke up again, “so, let me try and save you.”

On one hand, Natasha was glad that the water hadn’t stopped raining down on her because she was able to hide the tears that slid down her cheeks. She knew that Steve had struggled when he woke up from the ice but hearing him talk about it tore her heart to pieces. His voice had been so hurt, so broken that she wanted to open the door and hug him, wipe away that pain.

Instead, she found herself saying, “You’re an idiot.” It was so half-hearted and fond that he couldn’t help but smile at her cheekily.

He let out a laugh. “I know.”

For the next few hours, Steve stayed beside the door, speaking to fill the silence. He told her stories about his childhood, how he and Bucky would get in and out of trouble. He told her about his year in art school and how much he had liked it, told her about little details of his neighbourhood and shared things with her that no one else knew.

Natasha absorbed it all. They talked about his past sometimes, but he had never opened up to her as much as he did then. She made jokes and laughed at his stories, feeling somewhat light-hearted even as she watched the water reach halfway up the edge of the desk.

It was a nice distraction from what was happening. She wasn’t thinking about dying, how painful it would be or what Steve said he felt for her.

As she listened to his stories, she was transported into his world, into what she couldn’t admit she loved.

Tony arrived a few hours later, just as Steve was telling her a story of his mom and how she always snuck medicine from the hospital for him. The love in his voice for his mom was so evident that it absolutely melted her heart.

“You know,” Tony spoke while Jarvis scanned the building, “if you wanted to be Ariel, I could have made you a tail and you could’ve swum around my pool. No need to lock yourself here.”

Natasha rolled her eyes but couldn’t help to smile. As much as she hated to admit it, seeing him brought a smudge of hope into the impending dread in the back of her mind.

“Thank you, Tony,” Steve said earnestly. “I owe you.”

“Didn’t your mom ever tell you not to make a deal with a billionaire?” He typed a few things into his suit, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “Don’t think you’d be able to pay me back in the next few lifetimes, Capsicle.” He pursed his lips, frowning down at the screen Jarvis displayed for him. “Mm, there’s a few weird things-”

Natasha didn’t hear the rest. She didn’t want to – because the moment she stopped to listen to what Tony had to say, she knew that the bit of hope she had would be useless. She didn’t need him to spell it out for her; his trip there had been a waste of time and now she’d have to listen to Steve fight them on the inevitable.

“Woah there, Cap!” Tony looked in awe as Steve smacked the shield between the doors and tried to pry them open.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Natasha sat up, moving her feet sideways so that they wouldn’t touch the water.

“You’re okay!” Steve grunted out as he managed to get his fingers through.

“What?!”

“There’s nothing here! You’re okay,” he repeated, desperate and exhilarated all at once. He was on the verge of tears but was too busy trying to make his way to her to even bother letting himself _feel_.

Tony pursed his lips, tilting his head a bit and said, “Well, she’s not _okay_. Probably has hypothermia, but she’s not contaminated or anything.”

“What?” Her voice was breathless, barely a whisper.

“It was a glitch in the system,” Tony explained, “no virus or contamination was being spread…”

She didn’t bother listening to the rest.

Her heart stammered in her chest and she jumped into the water, wading through as she tried to get toward them. With a final grunt, Steve managed to push the doors open and Natasha nearly tripped as she rushed to him.

A sob broke through her chest as she threw herself against him, cupping his face in her hands and pulled him down for a kiss. Steve tensed against her momentarily, surprised at her boldness and once he realised what she was doing, he cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers like it was his sole purpose in the world.

Natasha trembled in his arms, breathing out in short gasps as she held on to him for dear life and kissed him over and over again. A small sob quivered through her chest and she tried her hardest not to cry.

“You’re okay,” Steve whispered, staring down at her with such affection it nearly melted her. He repeated it under his breath, almost as a reminder and hugged her tightly.

“Alright, loverboy,” Tony commented, “she’s okay, but she does need to get looked at. So, grab what you came for and let’s leave.”

Natasha nodded, untangling herself from Steve and grabbed the USB drive along with the stack of papers she had tried to save. Steve kept his hand at the small of her back, helping her wade through the water and tried to keep her steady.

The moment they were out of the room, reality came rushing back and she realised what the hell she had just done. The last thing she should have done was kiss Steve.

Steve who told her he _loved_ her.

Steve, who she was not ready to talk with.

Steve, who was looking at her like a madman in love.

 _Shit_.


End file.
